Watch the Sounds You Hear

SOUNDS are a major part of our lives.

If you've ever been distracted by one, you'll agree that the ability to identify what sound you hear tells you how to respond to it—and how you respond to it will determine what you do with it.

Sound tells a story.

MOSES was able to explain the sounds he heard because God had told him.

He could tell Joshua that the sounds from the camp were not those of battle but of singing.

They were not the noise of consecration; they were the sounds of desecration. (Exodus 32)

Moses watched the sounds he heard, and God wants you to do the same.

Sound can signify a change of season.

ELIJAH listened to the word he heard in the spirit, so he told Ahab what would happen.

He heard the sound of abundant rain.

When you hear a word like this in famine, it's an indication that God is about to do something; God is about to change the season of your life.

So noise could be the sound of a changing season.

Sounds

Sound can make you pray.

ELIJAH knew it was insufficient to have a revelation without a manifestation.

He went to Carmel to pray—to move from the point of revelation to the place of manifestation and to brood over God's promise.

As birds brood over their eggs to make them hatch, we brood in prayer over his promises.

We create an environment conducive to their coming to pass.

When Elijah sent his servant to look towards the sea, Gehazi said there was nothing. Then, he sent him back seven times.

And on the seventh time, Gehazi said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” (1 Kings 18:36-46)

Similarly, when God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, he said to him, “Arise, walk (make a thorough reconnaissance) around in the land, through its length and its width, for I will give it to you.” (Genesis 13:17)

If you can see it, you can have it.

ELIJAH stayed with the revelation when his servant could not see a manifestation and when he could not see the hand of God; he trusted God’s heart.

When you cannot see a manifestation, you stay with the revelation, and God wants you to heighten your expectation.

Sound creates a heightened expectation.

THE CENTURION who asked Jesus to come and pray for his servant understood who Jesus was, so he heightened his expectations for what Jesus would do.

Because he believed in the authority of Jesus, he sent his friends to tell him not to bother to come but to say the word. (Luke 7:1-10)

Sound creates an opportunity.

BLIND BARTIMAEUS heightened his expectation when he heard that Jesus was passing by.

He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” (Mark 10:46-52)

So the ability to understand the sound would determine what you do with it.

Sound creates an awareness.

DANIEL understood the sound of prophecy. When he read the books and saw that the years of the desolations on Jerusalem had passed, he knew it had to end. So he began to pray.

The sound of revelation is intended to create awareness, and awareness is meant to heighten your expectation. (Daniel 9:1-23)

‘A deepened expectation will only be complete with an unhindered intercession’

A sound could be a blessing or a warning.

THE Aramean soldiers had formed a siege around Samaria, and food had become very scarce.

And Elisha said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of finely-milled flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’” (2 Kings 7:1)

To bring this to pass, God caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army.

And they said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come [and fight] against us.” (2 Kings 7:6-8)

So they fled at twilight, leaving their camps as they were.

My prayer for you is that God will cause your detractors and enemies of your soul to hear a sound and flee from you. God will give you rest on every side.

Final Thoughts

A deepened expectation will only be complete with a continuous intercession.